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Alcohol Involved In Half Of Hospital Trauma Cases In Scotland

Alcohol was involved in nearly half of all accident and emergency trauma cases in Scotland last year. New figures released by the Scottish Trauma Audit Group reveal that 40% of all trauma injuries treated in Scottish hospitals were somehow related to alcohol. We’ve know for some time that A&Es around the country are inundated with alcohol-related admissions but the new figures show the scope is far higher than expected.

In the report which focused on 20 emergency depts at hospitals in the UK, Edinburgh Royal had the most trauma admissions followed by Glasgow’s Royal and then Ninewell’s hospital in Dundee. Out of 5,045 patients trerated for trauma in Scottish hospitals last year, four out of every ten cases involved alcohol.

And, even more disturbingly, the more serious the injury, the likelier that alcohol was involved. Only17% of minor traumas and 22% of moderate cases invloved alcohol but in major or serious traumas alcohol played its part in 37% of them.

Furthermore, booze was involved in a staggering 57% of assault admissions and in more than a third (34%) of falls from a height greater than six feet. A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The report shows the increasing involvement of alcohol in severe traumas, with alcohol associated with almost 40% of incidents.

This is far too high but the latest in a long line of statistics that show why we are so committed to tackling Scotland’s poor relationship with alcohol.”